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Backoffice & OSS
BT Vision Launched
IPTV Service Uses Microsoft TV Platform, Philips set-tops
by Jim Barthold
British Telecom (BT) has launched its BT Vision television and
entertainment service throughout the United Kingdom using
the Microsoft TV IPTV software platform and an advanced
Philips set-top box that can receive both off-air and
broadband content.
BT vision service combines more than 40 digital terrestrial
television channels with 80 hours of digital video recording
and a library of video-on-demand content. It marks the sixth
rollout of Microsoft TV behind AT&T in the U.S. and T-Online
France, T-Online Germany, Swisscom and T-Online Hungary.
Even with the hybrid terrestrial content approach, BT Vision is
a more conventional method television service than some
other Internet-based offerings being proffered to the
marketplace that include non-TV IP-enabled devices to
receive the content.
“The long-term vision for our BT Vision product is delivering
the content you like on any device anywhere in the U.K.,” said
BT spokesman Adam Liversage.
Another flavor of BT Vision already lets users download
movies to their PCs for playback on multiple devices.
“You can download a media file you can play on your PC;
download a media file which will play on a Windows portable
media player and we will also send you the DVD through the
post,” Liversage said. “This is a world’s first because the
content is available in the same window as the DVD is
available to buy or rent.”
Eventually, he said, BT wants to move BT Vision out to
portable media players and mobile phones, among other
devices, “but you have to take one step at a time and the
step we’ve taken today is to launch the TV service.”
The model fits with what Microsoft TV is trying to accomplish,
said Elena Branet, senior marketing manager, Microsoft TV-
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa).
“IPTV for us is not a Web-based video that’s delivered over
the Internet. IPTV is a competitive TV service delivered by a
broadband provider over a managed IP network that provides
full quality of service for the television service through the
broadband connection,” she said.
Microsoft, too, has a road map to extend that offering beyond
the television, but for now is content to deliver what by needs.
“We provide the Microsoft TV IPTV editions software platform
a complete end-to-end solution that enables BT to deliver
their next generation TV services including everything for their
service delivery from the point of acquisition for the
programming through to the viewing of that programming by
consumers in the home,” said Branet.
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